[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 159 (Monday, August 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49537-49538]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20954]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee; Public Comments on the Caribbean 
Basin Economic Recovery Act and the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership 
Act: Report to Congress

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is seeking the views 
of interested parties on the operation of the Caribbean Basin Economic 
Recovery Act (CBERA), as amended by the Caribbean Basin Trade 
Partnership Act (CBTPA) (19 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.). Section 212(f) of the 
CBERA, as amended, requires the President to submit a report to 
Congress regarding the operation of the CBERA and CBTPA (together 
commonly referred to as the Caribbean Basin Initiative, or CBI) on or 
before December 31, 2001, and every two years thereafter. The TPSC 
invites written comments concerning the operation of the CBI, including 
comments on the performance of each CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary 
country, as the case may be, under the criteria described in sections 
212(b), 212(c), and 213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as amended.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments by electronic mail (e-mail) to 
[email protected]. If unable to submit comments by e-mail, contact Office 
of the Americas, Office of the United States Trade Representative 
(USTR), 600 17th Street, NW., Room 223, Washington, DC 20508, at (202) 
395-6135.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrea Gash Durkin, Director for 
Central America and the Caribbean, Office of the Americas, Office of 
the United States Trade Representative (USTR), 600 17th Street, NW., 
Room 223, Washington, DC 20508. The telephone number is (202) 395-6135 
and the facsimile number is (202) 395-9675.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Interested parties are invited to submit 
comments on any aspect of the program's operation, including the 
performance of CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary countries, as the case may 
be, under the criteria described in sections 212(b), 212(c), and 
213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as amended, and provided below. Other issues 
to be examined in this report include: the CBI's effect on the volume 
and composition of trade and investment between the United States and 
the Caribbean Basin beneficiary countries; its effect in advancing U.S. 
trade policy goals as set forth in the CBTPA.
    The following countries are the current beneficiaries of the CBI. 
All are both CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary countries: Antigua and 
Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominica, 
Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, 
Honduras, Jamaica, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, 
St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 
Trinidad and Tobago and British Virgin Islands.

Eligibility Criteria for CBTPA Beneficiary Countries (Section 
213(b)(5)(B) of CBERA)

    In determining whether to designate a country as a CBTPA 
beneficiary country, the President must take into account the criteria 
contained in sections 212(b) and (c) of CBERA, and other appropriate 
criteria, including the following:
    (1) Whether the beneficiary country has demonstrated a commitment 
to undertake its obligations under the WTO under or ahead of schedule 
and participate in negotiations toward the completion of the FTAA or 
another free trade agreement.
    (2) The extent to which the country provides protection of 
intellectual property rights consistent with or greater than the 
protection afforded under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights.
    (3) The extent to which the country provides internationally 
recognized worker rights including--
    (I) The right of association;
    (II) The right to organize and bargain collectively;
    (III) A prohibition on the use of any form of forced or compulsory 
labor;
    (IV) A minimum age for the employment of children; and
    (V) Acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, 
hours of work, and occupational safety and health.
    (4) Whether the country has implemented its commitments to 
eliminate the worst forms of child labor.
    (5) The extent to which the country has met U.S. counter-narcotics 
certification criteria under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
    (6) The extent to which the country has taken steps to become a 
party to and implement the Inter-American Convention Against 
Corruption.
    (7) The extent to which the country applies transparent, 
nondiscriminatory and competitive procedures in government procurement, 
and contributes to efforts in international fora to develop and 
implement rules on transparency in government procurement.

Public Comment

    Comments must be submitted, in English, to the Chairman of the 
Trade Policy Staff Committee, and must be received no later than 
October 2, 2003. Submissions in response to this notice will be 
available for public inspection by appointment with the staff of the 
USTR Public Reading Room, except for information granted ``business 
confidential'' status pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.6. If the submission 
contains business confidential information, a non-confidential version 
of the submission must also be submitted that indicates where 
confidential information was redacted by inserting asterisks where 
material was deleted. In addition, the confidential submission must be 
clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' in large, bold letters at the 
top and bottom of each and every page of the document. The public 
version that does not contains business confidential information must 
also be clearly marked in large, bold letters at

[[Page 49538]]

the top and bottom of each and every page (either ``PUBLIC VERSION'' or 
``NON-CONFIDENTIAL'').
    In order to facilitate prompt consideration of submissions, USTR 
strongly urges and prefers electronic mail (e-mail) submissions in 
response to this notice. Hand-delivered submissions will not be 
accepted. E-mail submissions should be single copy transmissions in 
English with the total submission including attachments not to exceed 
50 pages in 12-point type and 3 megabytes as a digital file attached to 
an e-mail transmission. E-mail submissions should use the following 
subject line: ``2003 CBI Report.'' Documents must be submitted as 
either WordPerfect (``.WPD''), MSWord (``.DOC''), or text (``.TXT'') 
file. Documents should not be submitted as electronic image files or 
contain imbedded images (for example, ``.JPG'', ``PDF'', ``.BMP'', or 
``.GIF'') as these type files are generally excessively large. E-mail 
submissions containing such files may not be accepted. Supporting 
documentation submitted as spreadsheets are acceptable as Quattro Pro 
or Excel, pre-formatted for printing on 8\1/2\ x 11 inch paper. To the 
extent possible, any data attachments to the submission should be 
included in the same file as the submission itself, and not as separate 
files.
    For any document containing business confidential information 
submitted as an electronic attached file to an e-mail transmission, in 
addition to the proper marking at the top and bottom of each page as 
previously specified, the file name of the business confidential 
version should begin with the characters ``BC-'', and the file name of 
the public version should begin with the characters ``P-''. The ``P-'' 
or ``BC-'' should be followed by the name of the person or party 
(government, company, union, association, etc.) submitting the 
petition. Submissions by e-mail should not include separate cover 
letters or messages in the message area of the e-mail; information that 
might appear on any cover letter should be included directly in the 
attached file containing the submission itself. The electronic mail 
address for these submissions is [email protected].
    Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be 
available for review approximately 30 days after the due date by 
appointment in the USTR Public Reading Room, 1724 F Street NW., 
Washington, DC. Availability of documents may be ascertained, and 
appointments may be made from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, by calling (202) 395-6186.

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 03-20954 Filed 8-15-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-M